Erhard Milch German military leader, Field Marshal. Date of Birth: 30.03.1892 Country: Germany

1. Biography of Erhard Milch
2. Early Career
3. Contributions to the Luftwaffe
4. Conflict and Downfall
5. Arrest and Trial

Biography of Erhard Milch

Erhard Milch was a German military figure and Field Marshal. He was born on March 30, 1892, to Anton and Clara Milch, a family of pharmacists. His father was Jewish, which led to his rejection from the Imperial Navy in 1910. However, he joined the artillery regiment as a cadet and became a lieutenant in 1911. During World War I, Milch served in the artillery and later in aviation from July 1915. He was promoted to captain in August 1918 and became the acting commander of the 6th Air Regiment by the end of the war. Milch was awarded the Iron Crosses of the 2nd and 1st class. He was discharged from the military in January 1920.

Early Career

In 1921, Milch began working for the aviation company "Junkers," and in 1928, he became the Chief Executive Officer of Luft Hansa. As one of the leaders of German aviation, Milch actively reported on Junkers. However, he, a pacifist, was unjustly accused of treason, but before he could be tried, he died in 1935. From the late 1920s, Milch was closely associated with the Nazi movement and provided services to prominent Nazis. He gifted an excellent plane to Hitler and transferred 1,000 marks each month to Göring from the company's fund. In 1933, after the Nazis came to power, he became the Imperial Secretary for Aviation. Until March 1935, Germany did not openly announce the reestablishment of its Air Force, which was prohibited by the Treaty of Versailles. However, the ranks were already being distributed, and by 1933, Milch had risen from Colonel to General Field Marshal in five years. Through Göring's efforts, Milch's "racial inferiority" had been somewhat covered up: the results of a "special investigation" initiated by him were announced, which "established" that Erhard Milch was the product of his mother's extramarital relationship with an Aryan, Baron Hermann von Birum. The case was clearly fabricated, and Göring himself joked within his inner circle: "Yes, we made Milch a bastard, but at least an aristocratic one," or "Erhard is my right hand. So what if he's Jewish?! He is only a hand, while others have whole heads and asses."

Career in the Third Reich

Milch quickly adapted to the role of an Aryan baron's son. His remarkable career in the Third Reich convincingly demonstrates Hitler and the top leadership's attitude towards "pure blood" when it concerned the benefit of the cause and personal relationships. The only person among the leaders of the Nazi Party who despised Milch for his Jewish background was the "party's anti-Semite" Julius Streicher. He considered Milch's appointment as Göring's deputy a personal insult and "answered personally" by accusing Göring of impotence in his newspaper, Der Stürmer, and referring to his beloved daughter Edda as the product of artificial insemination. Göring defended Milch and succeeded in removing Streicher from all his party positions in 1940.

Contributions to the Luftwaffe

On November 15, 1941, Ernst Udet, the head of the Technical Department of the Ministry of Aviation, committed suicide in Berlin. He was responsible for the Luftwaffe's rearmament program but had completely failed in it, succumbing to alcoholism. Milch, who took his place, proved to be a talented organizer. He canceled old unsuccessful projects and focused on the reliable Me-110, Me-109, Ju-88, and He-111 aircraft. He significantly increased production rates, and by 1944, Germany was producing an incredible number of 23,805 single-engine fighters alone. Thanks to him, the Luftwaffe remained a formidable opponent in the air until the end of the war.

Conflict and Downfall

Although Milch was the most active person in the Luftwaffe during the war, his attempts to replace Göring were unsuccessful, even after the failure of supplying the 6th Army of Paulus by air, surrounded near Stalingrad in late 1942. However, Hitler, fully aware of who contributed more to the Luftwaffe, refused to remove Göring. Robert Ley explained this friendly to Hitler, saying, "You can't get rid of Göring, my friend. Despite his pompous figure, he shines like a copper kettle. And you, buddy, sorry, you're not fit for the facade." Despite his significant achievements in developing the Luftwaffe, Milch made a major strategic mistake: he failed to assess the significant prospects of jet aviation in a timely manner. When the world's first jet fighter, the Messerschmitt Me.262, made its first flight in April 1941, Udet stated that it was a revolution in aviation and should be immediately put into mass production. However, Milch reminded him of all his previous "revolutionary" projects that ended in complete failure and refused to manufacture the aircraft.

Arrest and Trial

Due to problems with turbojet engines, the production of jet aircraft was only established in 1944 when it was too late, and these advanced aircraft did not have any impact on the outcome of the war. Milch publicly admitted that he was wrong, but it was already too late. The production of missile aircraft, Fi-103, also known as V-1 flying bombs, ended in failure. Despite producing 11,300 of these missiles, most were shot down by the British Air Force and did not reach London, their main bombing target. The ones that did reach did not cause significant damage. Thousands of tons of scarce wartime metals were wasted.

In 1944, Milch failed to organize the production of jet bombers, and on June 21, 1944, he was forced to resign at Hitler's demand. Shortly after, he was involved in a serious car accident and spent three months in the hospital. There were rumors that the accident was staged, but Milch did not believe it. Hitler offered him several good positions again, but Milch declined as he saw no prospects for the Reich in the spring of 1945.

On May 4, 1945, he was arrested by the British at Schloss Zicherie on the Baltic Sea coast. Caught off guard, Milch even tried to defend himself against the soldiers with his marshal's baton. During the Nuremberg trials, he was held at Dachau camp, testified as a witness, and became one of the strongest defenders of Göring. In 1947, he was tried (one of the subsequent Nuremberg trials) as the sole defendant for involvement in the deportation of foreign workers and sentenced to life imprisonment. In 1951, his sentence was reduced to 15 years, and by 1955, he was released on parole.

Later, Milch worked as an industrial consultant and did not engage in any political or military activities. Shortly before his death, his marshal's baton, confiscated during his arrest, was returned to him. Erhard Milch died in Wuppertal, Germany at the age of 80.